Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl each notched two goals and three assists for five points on a night where they didn’t have to go up against Jordan Staal. Meanwhile, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had the other goal plus the shootout winner, and despite some truly spectacular goals by the Hurricanes including one all-timer from the returning Seth Jarvis, the Carolina Hurricanes fell to the Edmonton Oilers in the shootout, 6-5.
This game was set up as the marquee game of the road trip, as the Oilers were 7-1-1
coming in, and that was before it was going to be the first game back for Jarvis, who had missed the first part of the season recovering from offseason shoulder surgery. Nugent-Hopkins also was playing his first game after injury, and the stars shone bright on a night that saw several goals that’ll be seen over and over. The luster was off this game a little with the Canes down two centers in Jordan Staal and Mark Jankowski, and their absence was felt most on the penalty kill.
The first period showed just what sort of game this would be, as both teams got rushes right on top of the opposing goaltender, who both stood strong to start. The ice was broken by Draisaitl on the first power play of the night, and done so in three second of said power play. Without Jordan Staal on the ice, the Canes quickly lost the faceoff, and on a set play the puck was won over to McDavid, who passed up to Evan Bouchard. Bouchard shot it from the point at Draisaitl, who easily deflected it by Brandon Bussi. The Canes, though, fought right back on the power play themselves as Jackson Blake finally was rewarded for the hard work he put up during the road trip. Blake took the pass off the faceoff win, drove to the net and delivered the puck over to Shayne Gostisbehere. Gostisbehere shot it, and Blake was out front of the net to slam home the rebound, tying the score at one.
The second period would start quickly for Carolina, as some hard work by Sebastian Aho led to him racing past some Oilers defenders, getting a breakaway, and scoring via the five-hole on Devon Levi.
Edmonton wouldn’t trail for long as they would once again get a chance on the power play, and thanks to a shot by the returning Nugent-Hopkins they were able to tie it at two. From there, though, the Canes took over the period. About seven minutes after the Oilers evened it up, Seth Jarvis announced to Canes fans and the NHL that he not only was back, he was feeling great with the shoulder finally repaired after two years. It was another breakaway chance, and he just put on a clinic with a goal that will be on his highlight reel for the rest of his career.
As the second wound down, the Canes continued their push and showed off their skill with an incredible goal. Nikolaj Ehlers grabbed the puck behind the net and feathered a perfect pass over to Logan Stankoven, even using the goal post to feed it right onto his stick. Stankoven banged it home and took a 4-2 lead into the locker room.
The Canes unfortunately let the Oilers back into the game in the third period by doing the thing you can’t do against this team—give that top line room to operate. The first goal came as Aho made an unfortunate gamble in the neutral zone where he was trying to get another breakaway chance. That gamble allowed Edmonton to enter the zone with an odd man rush, and when the Canes overcompensated to try and separate Draisaitl from the puck behind the net, he fed a perfect pass over to McDavid all alone. Bussi had no chance, and it was 4-3. Shortly thereafter Sean Walker was sent to the box for a slash, and for the third time Edmonton’s Power Play made Carolina pay, and this one was Draisaitl off a feed from McDavid. Less than three minutes in, the score was tied at four.
The Canes tightened up the rest of the period, however, and were able to keep the Oilers off the board. Then an unlikely hero, Juuso Välimäki would come in and off his first NHL goal since December 2024, give the Canes a lead. The play was thanks to a great keep in by Gostisbehere who managed to keep the speeding puck inside the blue line, and the pass went over to Martinook. Martinook fed the open Välimäki for the shot and score.
Unfortunately, being down with two minutes left in the game meant the Oilers could go with the empty net and six skaters, two of which were the Draisaitl and McDavid pairing. One puck went in the net but did so as the officials were calling it being touched with an Oilers high stick. Unfortunately a few seconds later, McDavid would feather a pass in the zone that would deflect off Jesperi Kotkaniemi’s skate and past Bussi on the worst goal he let in on the night. Hats would rain down as fans thought it was off Draisaitl for his third, but the replays clearly showed it was off Kotkaniemi’s skate.
Both teams would get chances in overtime with both goalies making some good saves. In the shootout, Bussi managed to stop McDavid and Draisaitl, but couldn’t stop the third shooter in Nugent-Hopkins. Meanwhile, Gostisbehere, Andrei Svechnikov, and Jarvis all were blanked by Levi, and the Oilers skated away with the extra point.
Seven Hurricanes in total would get a point on the night, with Jordan Martinook joining Aho with two by assisting on two goals.
Carolina will finish the State Fair Road Trip in Saint Louis on Saturday Night, and they’ll do so without a practice on Friday, then finally come home to play four of their last six in Raleigh before heading out to Finland.
